Tag: Phosphate Rock

Brazil’s phosphate industry is on a growth dash to meet rising domestic demand. We report on the major acquisitions, investments and expansions by CMOC, Mosaic, Yara and Itafos.

Sophisticated control of phosphates production is now possible thanks to the availability of real-time process analysers. We assess the range of technologies currently on the market and their key advantages.

The last three years has seen a renaissance in fertilizer production and blending in sub-Saharan Africa. We highlight the expansion of capacity in Nigeria and other countries within the region.

Sulphur demand in Australia has been boosted by the restart of the nickel leaching plant at Ravensthorpe, and new HPAL projects are under development, but a slew of new phosphate projects are not scheduled to consume more acid domestically.

Shell Global Solutions International BV (Shell) has awarded Worley two contracts for PT Pertamina EP Cepu’s (PEPC) new sulphuric acid plant in Indonesia. This plant is part of the Jambaran-Tiung Biru utilised gas field project for PEPC, which is a subsidiary of PT Pertamina-Indonesia’s state-owned energy company. Under the contracts, Worley will supply be supplying Chemetics’ cooled oxidation reactor (CORE) technology. This is the first time that CORE will be paired with Shell’s Cansolv SO2 capture technology. Worley gained the Chemetics technology as part of its Jacobs Energy, Chemicals and Resources acquisition last year. Cansolv controls the emissions and captures additional by-product value from the sulphur dioxide emitted from various refinery flue gas streams (such as cracking units, process heaters and boilers), sulphur plants and spent acid regeneration units. Sulphur dioxide can be recycled to the sulphur recovery unit to be produced as marketable sulphur or converted to sulphuric acid.

We profile the US ‘big three’ North American phosphate producers, Mosaic, Nutrien and Simplot, and disruptive market entrant Itafos.

A look at the major factors influencing the sulphur market around the world.

Concerns are growing about the health impacts of the heavy metals present in phosphate-based fertilizers and their accumulation in soils. In response, regulators and international agencies are currently seeking to limit human exposure to these potentially harmful elements. Encouragingly, a number of sustainable options with minimal market impacts are available, as Mikhail Pleschev, Boris Levin and Juan von Gernet of PhosAgro explain.

Although North America is no longer the world’s largest sulphur exporter, it remains a major producer and consumer, and there are still significant exports and imports of sulphur into and out of the region.

Fertilizer International presents a round-up of phosphate rock, phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizer projects.